Adam Szalai had the chance to open the scoring for Mainz in the 28th minute, after Javier Pinola bundled Nicolai Mueller over in the penalty area, but the Hungarian striker fired his spot kick wide to the left.

Nuremberg defender Per Nilsson broke the deadlock in the 54th, when he met Hiroshi Kiyotake's in-swinging free kick to head inside the far post.

Nicolai Mueller equalized six minutes later with a chip over the outrushing goalkeeper.

But Nilsson scored his second in the 69th when he scrambled the ball into the net from Hanno Balitsch's light touch to Kiyotake's corner.

Mainz, which dropped to eighth, had most of the possession and 11 shots on goal compared to the home side's six, but Nuremberg held on to preserve an unbeaten run at home going back to Sept. 29.